Reminiscing About Days Past
by APhoenixRising
Summary: No, Molly didn't regret any of her life choices. Not as a parent, not as a grandparent, not as a friend. Each one had bought her towards her family, and that was the greatest gift in the world / In which Molly is a constant source of advice and comfort for her grandchildren.


_**Written for the Qudditch League Competition: Round 1, the Off The Block Competition: Freestyle, Extra Hard and the Acrostic-y Challenge of Chapter Titles**_

**A.N - Thanks to my fellow teammates: erbkaiser, MarauderWitch and firefly81 who all had a look over this and beta'd for me.**

**Quidditch League: **

**Round 1 - **Family Roles

**Captain - **Grandparent

**Word Count - **1323

**Reminiscing About Days Past**

Reflecting upon her life choices, Molly Weasley says she wouldn't change anything. 'Everything happens for a reason' she would muse to herself as she washed pots and pans and fed her husband. Whenever her grandchildren came to her for advice or just a general talk, that is what she would tell them. It just so happened that a lot of her grandchildren came to her for advice...

~o~

As the oldest of her grandchildren, it was inevitable that Victoire would be the first to approach the matriarchal woman. It happened one afternoon in the summer between Victoire's fifth and sixth years...

The entire Weasley-Potter clan were celebrating Harry's birthday, but one teenager was feeling very alone. Tired of seeing Teddy taking requests for various facial features, she snuck off into the Burrow, in need of a little time to ponder her thoughts. She walked into the kitchen, hoping to find a small snack but instead she found her Grandmother icing the top of an impressive cake.

'Hello, Victoire.'

'Uh, hi Grandma. I was just going to get...' her voice trailed off as, in that moment, she couldn't think of a single object to use as a distraction.

Victoire quickly picked up an apple off the side and made to leave the room but Molly soon stopped her. 'What's wrong, Victoire?' she asked.

'Nothing, Grandma,' Victoire replied, as innocently as she could.

'Oh no, I know that look. You're having boy trouble, aren't you?' Victoire stared back with an intensity that said no, but she soon flopped onto a spare chair.

'Yeah...'

'Oh, Darling. You know you can speak to me, don't you? I was just as young as you once, believe it or not.'

Victoire laughed, but it was without the heartiness it usually contained. 'Yeah, I know Grandma. It's just because it's-'

'Teddy?' questioned Molly.

'How did you know?' asked Victoire.

'You should never answer a question with another one, Dear. But do you know how I know?' Victoire shook her head. 'You look at him the same way I used to look at your Grandfather back when we were your age.'

'Ew, Grandma!'

'I bet you're having the same thoughts as what I was too.'

'Grandma! That's way too much information!' Victoire laughed, but then paused. 'But, what should I do?'

'You should do what your heart feels as though it should. Your Grandfather and I knew what we wanted so we got married, had seven amazing children and now we have twelve incredible grandchildren who bring us joy everyday.' Molly smiled at her eldest grandchild.

'But I don't know what my heart wants to do.'

'You'll know eventually. But never forget: everything happens for a reason.'

'Thanks, Grandma.' Victoire hugged the older woman, swiped some icing off the top of the cake and quickly walked back outside to join the festivities.

~o~

Dominique was the wild child of the family. Most people couldn't keep up with her various on goings and relationships, but Molly always knew who her granddaughter wanted, and she was always there when it went wrong. So one day when Dominique was twenty-one, and she apparated to the Burrow with tear streaks down her freckle-filled face, Molly was there with a shoulder to cry on and a mug of tea...

'Grandma!' called Dominique, as she barged through the back door.

'Dom, Darling! What brings you here in such a manner?' Molly stopped as she saw her granddaughter's face. 'Ah, is this about Ben?' Dominique nodded, and fresh tears fell down her cheeks.

'Yeah...he- I...'

'What happened, Sweetie?' Molly poured out some tea and set the steaming mug in front of her.

'He...' she gulped. 'I saw him with someone else... I thought he was different!'

'Oh, Dear, that's awful. What did he do?' asked Molly.

'He just stared at me until I left, I couldn't look at him any more! I loved him...' A dry sob echoed from her. Molly placed her mug on the table and pulled Dominique in for a hug, she was the only person who Dominique let hold her like that.

'Remember what happened the last time you said that,' Molly said.

'Yeah, don't remind me, Grandma,' scoffed Dominique. 'I think the same about them all, don't I? Everyone's right about me: I'm an idiot. A stupid idiot who sleeps around, falls in love too easily, and gets her heart broken.'

'Now, you know that's not true. I'm not going to comment on you sleeping around, I don't know if that's true or not, and I don't want to find out, but yes, you do fall in love easily. That doesn't make you stupid, it makes you capable of love and I'd rather be like you than incapable of loving anyone.'

'Thank you, Grandma.' Dominique sniffed, and wiped her nose on her sleeve. 'You always help.'

'And remember-'

'Yeah, I know. Everything happens for a reason,' finished Dominique.

'Exactly, and don't you forget that.'

~o~

It was mainly relationship advice that people came to Molly for, having a healthy and loving marriage for as long as she and Arthur had made her an expert in the eyes of her grandchildren. However, it wasn't the only reason why they came to her as demonstrated by James shortly before he started Hogwarts...

They had been celebrating his Mother's birthday at the Burrow, the whole Weasley-Potter family was present and those who were already at Hogwarts were sitting together and swapping stories about their previous years. Something was on James' mind, something that wouldn't leave no matter how hard he tried: he didn't want to be in Slytherin.

Everyone told him it didn't matter what House he ended up in, but it mattered to him. He wanted to carry on the Gryffindor legacy that the rest of the family had started, wanted to be considered brave and he wanted to live up to the Potter name. As the evening wore on, he became more and more subdued and soon Molly noticed.

'James, Dear, can you help me bring some of these plates inside,' she asked him, with a knowing glance.

'Sure thing, Grandma,' he replied, and he began to haphazardly stack some plates.

Once inside the kitchen, he set them down and began to walk back outside but Molly stopped him.

'What's on your mind, James? You've been preoccupied all night.'

'Nothing,' he replied, feigning innocence.

'Now come on, I've raised seven children and each of them had that look before starting at Hogwarts.'

'How did you know?'

'A grandmother always knows, James. Now why are you so worried? You'll make so many friends and you're a clever boy.'

'It's not that...' he muttered.

'Then what?' Molly asked in response.

'It's just... I don't want to be in Slytherin. From what I've heard they're rotten to the bone and they're mean to the First-Years, and I don- don't want that to happen to me.' He looked at his Grandma through tear-filled eyes, begging her to understand. She did. She always did.

'James, that's exaggerated. They won't be mean to you at all, everyone at Hogwarts is so nice to you. It's really the best place to be in the world, and you'll have Teddy and the girls. Give it one month and you won't want to come home no matter what house you're in. It doesn't matter to any of us, everything happens for a reason, but between you and me.' James leaned in closer. 'You've got the making of a great Gryffindor.' He smiled widely and threw his arms around the older woman.

'Thank you, Grandma!' James ran back outside to the rest of the family and didn't stop smiling for the rest of the night.

~o~

No, Molly didn't regret any of her life choices. Not as a parent, not as a grandparent, not as a friend. Each one had bought her towards her family, and that was the greatest gift in the world.


End file.
